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Teagan hugged both of us goodnight and they walked off toward the hotel with their arms around each other.
I grasped Remi’s hand in mine and placed a kiss on her temple. “Do you want to go for a walk, stay here, or go to the room?”
“I just want to be with you.” I knew she meant it, but I was sorry that her heart was heavy.
“Let’s walk a little while.”
I kicked off my shoes and bent to pick them up in my free hand. Remi’s arm slid around my waist and so I put mine around her shoulders as we walked closer to the water’s edge. The wet sand was cool beneath our feet and was quite a contrast to the heat still radiating from a full day of sun beating down on the fine, white sand.
“I wish you would have told me about Rory getting sicker, Remi. We talk every day, and you didn’t say anything. I want to be here for you.”
“You are. Your offer to help find her family is so generous, but I didn’t want to be a downer.”
“It’s not generous, it’s the right thing to do,” I said.
“Thank you for not telling me to let it go and move on with my own life. Most men wouldn’t want to be bothered with someone else’s child.”
Instantly, I knew that was Alan’s reaction. He was obviously more of a dick than I had thought and so I felt my guilt about taking away his chances with Remi.
Remi’s gorgeous brunette hair was blowing around her face and the silk strands slid over my bare arm where it rested around her shoulders. I squeezed her to me as we walked, knocking her off balance a bit.
“Remi, I do worry about you, though. It would be better for you mentally if you could put a little distance between you and Rory. It could be better for her as well. You shouldn’t encourage her to depend on you in case you’re not approved to foster her.”
“I really want to adopt her,” she blurted. “I know it’s probably not possible, but I can’t stand that no one wants her. I can’t let her feel that way, I just can’t!”
“But won’t she be heartbroken if the new fosters won’t allow you to see her? She’s becoming reliant on you and if you get yanked out of her life, she’ll feel abandoned again. Have you thought of that?” I suggested softly.
“All I know is that when I was sitting in a hospital bed, all I wanted was my mom, Jensey, and Daddy, and I just can’t stand it that she’s alone.”
I sighed heavily, the sound hidden by the whooshing of the waves on the shore and lapping at our feet. “I get it. It’s unforgiveable.”
“When you’re a small child, forgiving is easier, as long as there is love afterward.”
I was always amazed by how big Remi’s heart was. She was so humble and grateful for the blessings she had. “Someday, you’ll be an incredible mother.”
We stopped and I turned her to face me and our eyes locked.
“Does that mean you’ll help me get Rory?”
I nodded. “I’ll have to move to Tennessee to establish residency and you’ll have to marry me. Do you think you can do that?” I smiled.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she gasped. “Really?” she asked tremulously, her expression lighting up.
“There isn’t any other woman on earth that I’m going to marry, so unless you want me to end up old, alone, with a shriveled bone… then, really.” I said, grinning.
Remi laughed and grasped my forearms with her hands, then nodded. “I don’t want your bone to shrivel, that’s for sure.”
I flashed a smile. “Is that a yes? I’ll get you a ring, but I didn’t think I’d be asking this weekend.”
“Yes,” she said softly, looking up at me coyly. “You make me so happy. I don’t deserve you, and I don’t need a ring. Only you.”
“I want the world to know you’re mine.”
Using both of my hands to hold her head, I tilted my head and bent to kiss her on her luscious mouth. I’d been dying to do so since the moment I’d laid eyes on her on the beach. My lips were gentle, but hungry. I was mindful of her fragile emotions, but her mouth came alive beneath mine, her hands sliding up my chest and clutching my shirt. I dropped my shoes in the sand as she stood on tiptoes, and I moved to lift her off the ground to bring our mouths onto the same level so I could kiss her more fully. Passion bloomed between us, the same way it did whenever I touched her. I couldn’t get enough of her; her taste, the way she felt pressed against my body, the scent of her perfume.
When we broke apart, breathless, I started walking back up the beach toward the hotel, still holding her, her bare feet dangling a good foot off the sand; I bore her slight weight with ease.
“Now, what do ya say we give this old bone some exercise?"
